Tuesday, January 13, 2009

True to the Faith

True to the Faith

"May God console you! ... What saddens you ... is the fact that others have occupied the Churches by violence, while during this time you are on the outside. It is a fact that they have the premises -- but you have the apostolic faith. They can occupy our churches, but they are outside the true faith. You remain outside the places of worship, but the faith dwells within you. Let us consider: what is more important, the place or the faith? The true faith, obviously. Who has lost and who has won in this struggle -- the one who keeps the premises or the one who keeps the faith? "True, the premises are good when the apostolic faith is preached there; they are holy if everything takes place there in a holy way ... "You are the ones who are happy; you who remain within the Church by your faith, who hold firmly to the foundations of the faith which has come down to you from apostolic tradition, and if an execrable jealously has tried to shake it in a number of occasions, it has not succeeded. They are the ones who have broken away from it in the present crisis. "No one, ever, will prevail against your faith, beloved brothers, and we believe that God will give us our Churches back some day. "Thus, the more violently they try to occupy the places of worship, the more they separate themselves from the Church. They claim that they represent the Church but in reality they are the ones who are expelling themselves from it and going astray. "Even if Catholics faithful to tradition are reduced to a handful, they are the ones who are the true Church of Jesus Christ. (Coll. Selecta SS. Eccl. Patrum. Caillu and Guillou, Vol. 32, pp 411-412)."

A true upholder of tradition

St Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, suffered many persecutions and injustices because he refused to tolerate Arianism, the reigning heresy of the 4th Century which denied the divinity of Christ. He died in 373 A.D., and his feast day is kept on the 2nd of May, the anniversary of his death.

St Athanasius was one of the very few bishops in the world who, during the Arian heresy, openly defended the Catholic teaching. He suffered slander, exile and even unjustified excommunication for his almost lone stand in defence of the Faith.

It was a time when the Faith was more upheld by the laity who remained true to their baptism than by the vast majority of the episcopate who failed to remain faithful to their divine commission. Only when we realise this stupendous fact can the full extent of the heroism of St. Athanasius be appreciated (together with a few other heroic bishops such as St. Hilary, who supported him faithfully).

Cardinal Newman cites numerous Patristic testimonies to the abysmal state of the Church at that time. In Appendix V to the third edition of his "Arians of the Fourth Century", we read:

A. D. 360. St. Gregory Nazianzen says, about this date: "Surely the pastors have done foolishly; for, excepting a very few, who either on account of their insignificance were passed over, or who by reason of their virtue resisted, and who were to be left as a seed and root for the springing up again and revival of Israel [Israel - only the faithful are meant, nothing at all to do with Jews or land covenants] by the influence of the Spirit, all temporised, only differing from each other in this, that some succumbed earlier, and others later; some were foremost champions and leaders in the impiety, and others joined the second rank of the battle, being overcome by fear, or by interest, or by flattery, or, what was the most excusable, by their own ignorance." (Orat. xxi. 24).

St. Basil says, about the year 372: "Religious people keep silence, but every blaspheming tongue is let loose. Sacred things are profaned; those of the laity who are sound in faith avoid the places of worship as schools of impiety, and raise their hands in solitude, with groans and tears to the Lord in heaven." Ep. 92. Four years after he writes: "Matters have come to this pass: the people have left their houses of prayer, and assemble in deserts, - a pitiable sight; women and children, old men, and men otherwise infirm, wretchedly faring in the open air, amid most profuse rains and snow-storms and winds and frosts of winter; and again in summer under a scorching sun. To this they submit, because they will have no part in the wicked Arian leaven." Ep. 242. Again: "Only one offence is now vigorously punished, - an accurate observance of our fathers' traditions. For this cause the pious are driven from their countries, and transported into deserts." Ep. 243.

WE CAN SEE A PARALLEL IN WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE CHURCH OF TODAY:

What happened over 1600 years ago is repeating itself today, but with two or three differences: Alexandria is the whole Universal Church, the stability of which is being shaken, and what was undertaken at that time by means of physical force and cruelty is now being transferred to a different level. Exile is replaced by banishment into the silence of being ignored; killing, by assassination of character.

(Mgr. Rudolf Graber, Bishop of Regensburg, Athanasius and the Church of Our Times, p. 23)

Any who are truly baptized in Christ will have the witness of the Holy Spirit telling them to have utterly and absolutely nothing to do with Vatican II apostasy. I wonder how many baptized by Novus Ordonarians are truly baptized or did they just have water poured on them? The Holy Spirit is the Consoler. He won't tolerate what He always forbade.

BY WATER AND BLOOD ARE WE DELIVERED1Jn:5:6¶ This is he that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ: not by water only but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit which testifieth that Christ is the truth. (DRV)

IN THE FOLLOWING ST. IRENAEUS TEACHES US THAT WE ARE BAPTISED IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THEREBY WE ARE REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST IN OUR BAPTISM IN THE WATER AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT; AND THAT THE REAL PRESENCE OF OUR LORD IS IN THE EUCHARIST. ST. IRENAEUS EMPHATICALLY REJECTS THE GNOSTIC IDEA THAT THE GODS OF EGYPT (HORUS SON OF ISIS) OR ANY OF THE PAGAN GODS HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH SALVATION BUT ARE ABSOLUTELY REJECTED AND FORBIDDEN BY GOD TO CHRISTIANS HEREIN AND THROUGHOUT ALL OF HIS WORK “AGAINST HERESIES”.

ST. IRENAEUS: AGAINST HERESIES, BOOK III - CHAP. XVII.--THE APOSTLES TEACH THAT IT WAS THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHO DID DESCEND UPON JESUS AT HIS BAPTISM IN THE JORDAN ACCORDING TO THE DECLARATION OF THE APOSTLES:

1. ... that the Spirit of God as a dove descended upon Him; this Spirit, of whom it was declared by Isaiah, "And the Spirit of God shall rest upon Him,"(7) …. And again: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me."(8) That is the Spirit of whom the Lord declares, "For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you."(9) And again, giving to the disciples the power of regeneration into God,(10) He said to them," Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."(11) For [God] promised, that in the last times He would pour Him [the Spirit] upon [His] servants and handmaids, that they might prophesy; wherefore He did also descend upon the Son of God, made the Son of man, becoming accustomed in fellowship with Him to dwell in the human race, to rest with human beings, and to dwell in the workmanship of God, working the will of the Father in them, and renewing them from their old habits into the newness of Christ.

2. This Spirit did David ask for the human race, saying, "And stablish me with Thine all-governing Spirit;"(12) who also, as Luke says, descended at the day of Pentecost upon the disciples after the Lord's ascension, having power to admit all nations to the entrance of life, and to the opening of the new covenant; from whence also, with one accord in all languages, they uttered praise to God, the Spirit bringing distant tribes to unity , and offering to the Father the first-fruits of all nations. Wherefore also the Lord promised to send the Comforter,(13) who should join us to God. For as a compacted lump of dough cannot be formed of dry wheat without fluid matter, nor can a loaf possess unity, so, in like manner, neither could we, being many, be made one in Christ Jesus without the water from heaven. And as dry earth does not bring forth unless it receive moisture, in like manner we also, being originally a dry tree, could never have brought forth fruit unto life without the voluntary rain from above. For our bodies have received unity among themselves by means of that laverwhich leads to incorruption; but our souls, by means of the Spirit. Wherefore both are necessary, since both contribute towards the life of God, our Lord compassionating that erring Samaritan woman(1)--who did not remain with one husband, but committed fornication by [contracting] many marriages--by pointing out, and promising to her living water, so that she should thirst no more, nor occupy herself in acquiring the refreshing water obtained by labour, having in herself water springing up to eternal life. The Lord, receiving this as a gift from His Father, does Himself also confer it upon those who are partakers of Himself, sending the Holy Spirit upon all the earth.

BOOK III - CHAP. XVIII.--CONTINUATION OF THE FOREGOING. PROOFS FROM THE WRITINGS OF ST. PAUL

Then he continues, "If thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved."(3) And he renders the reason why the Son of God did these things, saying, "For to this end Christ both lived, and died, and rose again that He might rule over theliving and the dead."(4) And again, writing to the Corinthians, he declares, "But we preach Christ Jesus crucified;"(5) and adds, "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?"(6)

3. But who is it that has had fellowship with us in the matter of food? Whether is it he who is conceived of by them (the Gnostics) as the Christ above, who extended himself through Horus, and imparted a form to their mother (Isis); or is it He who is from the Virgin (Mary), Emmanuel, who did eat butter and honey,(7) of whom the prophet declared, "He is also a man, and who shall know him?"(8) He was likewise preached by Paul: "For I delivered," he says, "unto you first of all, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures."(9) It is plain, then, that Paul knew no other Christ besides Him alone, who both suffered, and was buried, and rose gain, who was also born, and whom he speaks of as man. For after remarking, "But if Christ be preached, that He rose from the dead,"(10) he continues, rendering the reason of His incarnation, "For since by man came death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead." And everywhere, when [referring to] the passion of our Lord, and to His human nature, and His subjection to death, he employs the name of Christ, as in that passage: "Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died."(11) And again: "But now, in Christ, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."(12) And again: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth upon a tree."(13) And again: "And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died;"(14) indicating that the impassible Christ did not descend upon Jesus, but that He Himself, because He was Jesus Christ, suffered for us; He, who lay in the tomb, and rose again, who descended and ascended,--the Son of God having been made the Son of man, as the very name itself doth declare. For in the name of Christ is implied, He that anoints, He that is anointed, and the unction itself with which He is anointed. And it is the Father who anoints, but the Son who is anointed by the Spirit, who is the unction, as the Word declares by Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me,"(15)--pointing out both the anointing Father, the anointed Son, and the unction, which is the Spirit.

Pope St. Damasus IBorn about 304; died 11 December, 384. His father, Antonius, was probably a Spaniards ; the name of his mother, Laurentia, was not known until quite recently. Damasus seems to have been born at Rome ; it is certain that he grew up there in the service of the church of the martyr St. Laurence. He was elected pope in October, 366, by a large majority, but a number of over-zealous adherents of the deceased Liberius rejected him, chose the deacon Ursinus (or Ursicinus), had the latter irregularly consecrated, and resorted to much violence and bloodshed in order to seat him in the Chair of Peter. Many details of this scandalous conflict are related in the highly prejudiced "Libellus Precum" (P.L., XIII, 83-107), a petition to the civil authority on the part of Faustinus and Marcellinus, two anti-Damasan presbyters (cf. also Ammianus Marcellinus, Rer. Gest., XXVII, c. iii). Valentinian recognized Damasus and banished (367) Ursinus to Cologne, whence he was later allowed to return to Milan, but was forbidden to come to Rome or its vicinity. The party of the antipope (later at Milan an adherent of the Arians and to the end a contentious pretender) did not cease to persecute Damasus. An accusation of adultery was laid against him (378) in the imperial court, but he was exonerated by Emperor Gratian himself ( Mansi, Coll. Conc., III, 628) and soon after by a Roman synod of forty-four bishops (Liber Pontificalis, ed. Duchesne, s.v.; Mansi, op. cit., III, 419) which also excommunicated his accusers.Damasus defended with vigour the Catholic Faith in a time of dire and varied perils.....

Concerning the Great Apostasy led by the Jews and Vatican II, we are warned:

The Fall of BabylonRv:18:1 ¶ And after these things, I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power: and the earth was enlightened with his glory. … Scripture reference – Rev.: 10:1; Ezek.: 43:2

2 And he cried out with a strong voice, saying: Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen: and is become the habitation of devils and the hold of every unclean spirit and the hold of every unclean and hateful bird: … Scripture reference – Rev.: 14:8!; Isaiah: 13:21, 22!

3 Because all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication: and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her; And the merchants of the earth have been made rich by the power of her delicacies. … Scripture reference – Rev.: 14:8; 17:2; Jer.: 51:7!; Rev.: 18:9, 15

Her Sins and Punishment4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: Go out from her, my people; that you be not partakers of her sins and that you receive not of her plagues. … Scripture reference – Jer.: 51:45!; 2 Cor.: 6:17!; Eph.: 5:7!; 1 Tim.: 5:22

6 Render to her as she also hath rendered to you: and double unto her double, according to her works. In the cup wherein she hath mingled, mingle ye double unto her. … Scripture reference – Jer.: 50:29!; 2 Thess.: 1:6

7 As much as she hath glorified herself and lived in delicacies, so much torment and sorrow give ye to her. Because she saith in her heart: I sit a queen and am no widow: and sorrow I shall not see. … Scripture reference – Isaiah: 47:8

8 Therefore, shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning and famine. And she shall be burnt with the fire: because God is strong, who shall judge her.Dirge of the Kings

9 ¶ [1] And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived in delicacies with her, shall weep and bewail themselves over her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning: … Scripture reference – Rev.: 18:3; 17:2; 18:18

10 Standing afar off for fear of her torments, saying: Alas! alas! that great city, Babylon, that mighty city: for in one hour is thy judgment come. … Scripture reference – Rev.: 18:15, 16, 17

Dirge of the Merchants11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her: for no man shall buy their merchandise any more. … Scripture reference – Ezek.: 27;32!

12 Merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones: and of pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet: and all thyine wood: and all manner of vessels of ivory: and all manner of vessels of precious stone and of brass and of iron and of marble:

13 And cinnamon and odours and ointment and frankincense and wine and oil and fine flour and wheat and beasts [2] and sheep and horses and chariots: and slaves and souls of men.

14 And the fruits of the desire of thy soul are departed from thee: and all fat and goodly things are perished from thee. And they shall find them no more at all.

15 The merchants of these things, who were made rich, shall stand afar off from her, for fear of her torments, weeping and mourning, … Scripture reference – Rev.: 18:3, 10

16 And saying: Alas! alas! that great city, which was clothed with fine linen and purple and scarlet and was gilt with gold and precious stones and pearls. … Scripture reference – Rev.: 17:4

17 For in one hour are so great riches come to nought.Dirge of the MarinersAnd every shipmaster and all that sail into the lake, and mariners, and as many as work in the sea, stood afar off, … Scripture reference – Ezek.: 27:29, 30!; Rev.: 18:10

18 And cried, seeing the place of her burning, saying: What city is like to this great city? … Scripture reference – Ezek.: 27:29, 30!; Rev.: 18:9

19 And they cast dust upon their heads and cried, weeping and mourning, saying: Alas! alas! that great city, wherein all were made rich, that had ships at sea, by reason of her prices. For, in one hour she is made desolate. … Scripture reference – Ezek.: 27:29, 30!, 32, 33!

The Angel’s Promise21 And a mighty angel took up a stone, as it were a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying: With such violence as this, shall Babylon, that great city, be thrown down and shall be found no more at all. … Scripture reference – Jer.: 51:63, 64

22 And the voice of harpers and of musicians and of them that play on the pipe and on the trumpet shall no more be heard at all in thee: and no craftsman [3] of any art whatsoever shall be found any more at all in thee: and the sound of the mill shall be heard no more at all in thee: … Scripture reference – Ezek.:26:13!; Jer.: 25:10!

23 And the light of the lamp shall shine no more at all in thee: and the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee. For thy merchants were the great men of the earth: for all nations have been deceived by thy enchantments. … Scripture reference – Jer.: 25:10!

24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth. … Scripture reference – Rev.: 16:6! (DRV)

[1] -Ver. 9-19. This passage is not an account of a vision but rather a direct prophecy, after. the manner of the prophecies of Isaias and Ezechiel concerning Tyre. Tyre furnishes a type of the vengeance of God upon satanic pride and luxury. [2] -Ver.13. Beasts [of burden]: the Greek has “cattle.” [3] –Ver. 22 The city had boasted previously of her craftsmen, skilled in every craft.

Too many people anymore, on purpose, confuse whether or not a church or a teaching or a profession of faith is Catholic or Orthodox, with whether or not it is a pedigreed OFFICIAL church. Jesus Christ doesn't care how many OFFICIAL degrees you claim, if you lie against Him, you are none of His. It does not matter how many Popes, Patriarchs etc. ad nauseam you have with you (or you are with them) on your broad way to hell. Since the mania of Vatican II Ecumenism the biggest single coverup of apostasy is the claim to OFFICIAL church approval.

St. Athanasius contra-mundum was beset by practically the whole OFFICIAL church. They were Arian heretics. St. Athanasius was right and the OFFICIAL church was wrong. As C.S. Lewis said "The glory of St. Athanasius is that he did not move with the times; it is his reward that he now remains when those times, like all others, have passed away."

We are warned of the "operation of error", literally the "energian planes" or energy of delusion. Diabolic delusion is meant. That is made abundantly clear in the Church Fathers. In the ancient pagan world that was always part of idolatry and polytheism.

2Thes:2:9 Whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power and signs and lying wonders:10 And in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish: because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.11 Therefore God shall send them the operation of error, to believe lying:12 That all may be judged who have not believed the truth but have consented to iniquity.

During the time of Photius and the dating of all subsequent Orthodox Church theology, at about the same time as Photius, from the 'victory' of the "theology of the icon", the actual theology of that so-called church has disintegrated into complete paganism. Photius' teaching on Christ is simply an old heresy trying to divide Christ into two persons. The teaching on the hypostasis of the icon is nothing other than sophist idolatry. The teaching on created energy divinising men is nothing other than polytheism. The idea, present in the Orthodox and the Oriental Churches, that the gods and goddesses of Egypt and Greece are types of the true God and His revelation of Himself is a lie from Satan and complete apostasy from the true God. It was the Orthodox Church that originally proposed Ecumenism in the last few centuries, despite a few in their ranks claiming it was the Protestants. The Orthodox Church has been the leader of Ecumenism including Demetrios I and his nonsense, on the island of Patmos of all places, provoking the Antipope and Chief Roman Rabbinic Sophist John Paul II to the kind of nonsense that later with Bartholomew I, John Paul II perpetrated at Assisi. It is the Ecumenical Orthodox Church that claims the ecological Patriarch Bartholomew I (Gaia mother goddess of earth is the patroness of the ecologists). It was the Antipope John Paul II and the Heresiarch Bartholomew I that assembled in Assisi with about forty other Patriarchs and Metropolitans etc. of the Eastern 'Church' on January 24, 2002 for the totally apostate synchretist prayer meeting with leaders of every imaginable form of paganism including voodoo witchdoctors. It was Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who dared to call the apostasy of the Assisi offence against God, "blessed are the peacemakers". It is the Ecumenical Orthodox 'Church' that is is the self willed source of the energy of diabolic delusion that is marking men with the image of the beast.

During his recent pastoral visit to France, John Paul II said; We have no other intention than to serve mankind in a spirit of universal brotherhood. This statement, which repeats a concept expressed so often by the present pope, perfectly summarizes the spirit that has animated the Catholic Church since Vatican Council II: to serve mankind.

But shouldn’t the Catholic Church founded by our Lord, serve God first? And to serve God does not mean to serve mankind. Is man to be served instead of God? By never speaking of the service that it must render to God, but only of what it wants to render to man, the Conciliar Church has put man in the place of God, rendering to him divine honor.

The only service the Church can render to man is to convert him to the true Faith – or rather to Christ for the salvation of his soul. But of this service, however, it is no longer spoken. The clergy have allowed themselves to be seduced by a completely erroneous idea of man, since they no longer concern themselves about his conversation and the salvation of his soul. In fact, they no longer know how to recognize sinners; from considering their simple differences, they come to accept them in their “diversity”. Dialogue with the erring, in order to lead them to repentance and conversion, has become dialogue with error. It is simply prohibited to speak of Original Sin and its consequences.

This concept of a lay universal brotherhood which is but a myth derived from the French Revolution and a rancid substitute for Christian charity is the wide and broad way in which the present hierarchy is so concerned to follow, anxious as they are to earn the world’s applause. But they should not preoccupy themselves with the world, but rather with the Words of Christ, Who has commanded them to convert the world:

Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…(Mt. 28:19-20).

The Church of today doesn’t want to remember this teaching any longer, which expresses its very reason for being. If it were remembered, the worship of man would no longer be practiced. The Church would no longer bow before mankind, whom it has the duty to convert, in order to draw him from sin to eternal life.

Picture of the inter-religious World Day of Prayer at Assisi, 1986 with Antipope John Paul II, Orthodox Church Patriarch and idolatrous pagans.

But these clergy do not repent, do not mend their ways, do not change. God is punishing them for this, permitting a secular humanism to run rampant inside the Church. It is this secular humanism which corrupts vocations and the Faith, and which demands, with growing arrogance, the final dissolution of the Holy Catholic Church through the marriage of priests, the institution of woman priests, and the annihilation of what still remains under the authority of the Supreme Pontiff.

This cult of man and of woman, professed with enthusiasm by the priest hierarchy, is the worship of idols, of Isis and of Osiris.1 And what happened to those who forgot the one and true God to Whom they owed everything in order to worship idols?

Did you offer victims and sacrifices to me for forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? And you took unto you the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Rempham, figures which you made to adore them. And I will carry you away beyond Babylon (Acts, 7:42-23).

But in this hierarchy’s Church, in this desert of Faith, does anyone remember this any longer?

Aegidius

(From SISINONO, Nov., 1996)

1 Osiris, an Egyptian god, ruler of the underworld, and his nature-goddess wife, Isis. Their cult gradually extended from Egypt throughout the Roman Empire to become one of the chief religions. The worship of Osiris and Isis resisted the rise of Christianity and lasted until the sixth century AD.